"I just spent months chasing my proverbial tail around you, Abbie Mills, trying every trick I had in the book to try and get you to look at me, to see me," he counters, his hand tightening slightly against her waist. he pauses, interrupts himself to kiss her again, deeper this time, a hint of that hunger he's felt for weeks still simmering just under the surface. He lets her see it, just a peek, a hint of what he wants.
"The fact that you're finally looking, now, when I had every intention of walking away, and for good reason? That's either a miracle or the meanest trick I've ever heard of."
The kiss silences her before she can respond, insistent and hinting at a hell of a lot more, and its enough to make her finally ease her grip on his shirt, her hand falling to rest at one side of his waist instead.
"I looked," she corrects him, her smile turning just the tiniest bit grim even as she tilts her head to lean into another kiss, this one light and careful, not quite sure of how she wants to proceed from here. "I was just careful not to be caught."
Because it was about so much more than just the two of them.
"And you think, what?" he murmurs softly, letting his lips wander away from hers, against her cheek, back along her jaw, tasting and exploring as he went. "Letting yourself get caught now was a smart idea? This isn't going to be any safer, Abbie. For anyone."
He knew that. His head did. He'd known it all along, just as well as she did. That didn't mean he didn't want anyway. That had nothing to do with logic, with knowledge. It was another monster entirely, and at the moment it was wrecking havoc with his control. Which he had a surprising amount of, despite everyone's opinions of him.
She stiffens slightly; some part of her hasn't entirely agreed with the rest, isn't quite onboard with throwing caution to the wind with this one thing, because he's right-- he's absolutely right, and there's no amount of distraction that can make her forget it entirely, even if she does find herself turning her cheek towards him, catching her lower lip between her teeth as his lips move closer to her ear, brushing temptingly along the line of her jaw.
It's been a long time since she's let anyone this close to her. She never thought she'd actually give Hawley the chance, even though there had always been something in her gut that had wanted to take his bait whenever it was offered.
"I didn't say it was smart," she counters, her fingers disentangling themselves so that her hand can lay comfortably against the back of his neck, thumb brushing against the warmth of his skin, fingers creeping just below the rise of his jacket's collar. It's not going to be safer for anyone, and yet being this close is already beginning to awaken the need for things she's gone so long without, the things she's always refused to let herself have, gone to great lengths to separate herself from.
"But if it means you don't disappear, maybe I can afford to be a little stupid."
He follows the line of her jaw back until he can brush his lips against her ear, wanting to chase away some of that tension he'd felt creep back in, the doubt she has about what she's doing, about what they're doing. Maybe she should be doubting, maybe they both should. But it's easier to ignore when he's got her in his arms like this. Especially with her touching him like that, absent little things that feel wonderful as he brushes his lips against the curve of her ear.
She turns back to him, her hand moving from the back of his neck to lay flat against the side of face, turning him towards her so that she can lean in and kiss him squarely on the lips a second time, a deliberate show of certainty, an attempt to offset the very tension he was doing his best to chase away. Whatever came next wouldn't be without consequences, but she'd deal with those when they came. Right now, what mattered most to her was that they didn't lose him entirely-- that she didn't lose him, whatever it was he meant to her.
The kiss breaks and she pulls back just enough to nod firmly, meeting his eyes with a newly summoned surety, intent on letting him know she meant what she said, now as well as everything before it.
"It does," she says evenly, somber. "I like having you around."
Like with so many other sentiments, less was more with her, and the smile that pulls at the corner of her mouth says as much.
"And I think letting you drive out of here without giving you a fair chance would be a pretty big mistake."
"Well. Let's hope you're right," he quips, his voice a low smooth drawl as he wraps an arm about her waist, anchoring her against him as he gazes down at her, unable to tear his gaze away. "I guess it looks like I'll be staying a little longer than I planned, then."
He pauses, and his grin melts into something more serious at that. "But Abbie, I still gotta find her. She's too dangerous to let loose out there. Especially after what we saw. If I get word she's turned up... I gotta go. You know that."
That part, she can't argue, no matter how much some small and silly sentimental part of her wants to refuse. She still thinks he should ask for help, still thinks he shouldn't try to do the whole thing on his own-- but if there's word on Carmilla, he's right. He can't leave her to her own devices. She's a danger to everyone around her, no matter where she goes.
Her own smile fades, even as she gives him a single nod, the hand at his waist flexing and falling away so that she can encircle it with her arm instead.
"I know. You can't just forget about her-- and you shouldn't." That much, they can agree on. "But when that time comes, you let us know. If we can find a way to help, we will. If you really have to go on your own--"
She grimaces, pressing her lips together, though it turns into a genuine smile a moment later, however reserved. Resigned, perhaps.
"Then make sure you're leaving to take care of business, not to run away."
He studies her fora long moment, searches her face, measures her words, before finally dipping his head in a nod. "Deal," he answers, as if they'd been bartering for this all along. Maybe, in some way, they had been.
"So, Miss Mills. Since I suddenly have my calender cleared for the rest of the evening, what should we do now?"
She nods again. That deal, she's willing to take, at least for now. Time would tell if she would have any further conditions to add, but as it was, she thought it was fair. Leave if he had to, but be damn careful-- and come back, considering she felt they were all in agreement that he was welcome in Sleepy Hollow. There would always be a place for him among friends.
Anything more than that, she wasn't sure she could say at the moment, but she hasn't forgotten how warm he is, hasn't forgotten what his lips tasted like or just how good it feels to be this close to another human being in this way, for the first time in ages.
"I'm not expected back anywhere," she begins carefully, raising both eyebrows ever-so-slightly. "And I think everyone else expects you to be halfway to the Canadian border by now."
"Canada?" he scoffs with a laugh, then reaches into the truck bed to retrieve his duffel bag he'd tossed in there, planning on heading straight out. With that plan now cancelled, he might as well unpack again. Eventually. "Why on earth would I run away to Canada? Not nearly enough nude beaches and fruity drinks up there."
It's easy to keep that part of it light as he slings his duffel up and over one shoulder, bracing it easily. Then he holds his free hand out to her, still and patient, in invitation. Leaving it up to her if she wanted to come.
"Well. If you like. I've got a perfectly comfortable boat nearby. Can open a bottle, order some take-out, anything you like."
"Closer than Mexico if you're looking to disappear," she reasons with a careful smile, "and you could always catch a flight out."
It was one thing to be hiding from the cops, another entirely to be hiding from your friends who happen to be incredibly determined and have the police department's resources available to them. Don't think you wouldn't have eventually been found if you had gone, Hawley-- although if that had been the case, Abbie imagines that catching up wouldn't have been quite as friendly as it was now.
She watches him retrieve his bag with interest, feeling tension ease out of her, like seeing it was enough to finally convince her that he was for real, that he was staying at least a little longer. She follows his gaze out towards the boat, thoughtful, then takes the offered hand after a moment's hesitation, her own grip warm and firm and far more solid than she would have expected, all things considered.
"You inviting me back to your place?" she asks, amused. "Wasn't sure the Chinese place delivered to boats."
"Course they do. All the delivery places do. I tip nice," he quips with an easy grin as he twines his fingers with hers and gives a light tug, heading down towards the docks and his boat. "And yes, yes I am. The really astonishing part is that you just agreed to come along. It's not like I haven't invited you back before."
He lets the disappearing comment go for now. It's not something he wants to discuss with her - not to let it ruin the mood of the moment, but he also has his ways. Ways learned from Camille all those years ago. There's a reason he stays off-grid. He's not so easy to track down, especially by the police. If people want to find him, they usually have to resort to... less civilized means. In which case, Jenny would have a hell lot more luck tracking him down than most of Abbie's resources could manage.
Not that he's going to enlighten her to that fact. Just in case.
"I don't think it would be the first time I'd surprised you," she responds coolly, calm despite the warm and promising feeling of their fingers being laced together, a show of affection so small and so insignificant to some, and yet to her it seemed more intimate than perhaps it should-- although considering who was on the other end, maybe it made sense. Hawley had never seemed like the hand-holding type.
"I reserve the right to change my mind."
But she smiles, and that says a lot. It says that she won't.
"Abbie, you end up surprising me every time I turn around, it seems," he chuckles, glancing down before looking over at her again, a fondness in his eyes as he led her down towards the boat. His fingers fidgeted with the strap of his duffel, the other hand holding hers in a warm grip. "I've never met anyone I had so much trouble predicting as you."
It's truth for him, at least. He'd never had trouble getting his way with his charm and his wit and his personality. It had always been enough, before. he'd never met anyone who'd made him work for things the way Abbie had. It had been an irresistible challenge to him. Still was, although he'd been suspecting for a long time it was deepening into something much more than that, a certainty he'd never wanted to stop and pick at along the way. he wasn't ready for some of those truths yet.
Her comment drags a laugh from him, quick and wry as he meets her gaze. "Don;t you always?" he asks as they reach his boat, his home, the closest thing he has to it.
He doesn't release her hand, merely hops over the space where dock ends and boat begins before dropping his duffel on the deck and turning to help her on board.
"Serves me well to do so," she shoots back easily, still smiling as he turns to help her board. She doesn't let go of his hand, holding on for that extra bit of security as she nimbly moves to step on the broad space at the edge of the boat between a break in the rail, hoisting herself on and hopping down to join him on the deck proper a moment later. She releases him then, quickly running her fingers through her hair as she gathers herself, giving the boat's exterior a quick once-over. She's never really paid it much mind, even though it had always been right there in the harbor all the countless times she'd come down to the docks, looking for answers.
"Nice," she remarks, though she knows she shouldn't be surprised. Hawley makes good money doing what he does, even if she wouldn't file most of his methods under what she considered to be clean business. "Suits you, I think. Not sure I can imagine a Hawley who lives on land."
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-21 04:44 am (UTC)"The fact that you're finally looking, now, when I had every intention of walking away, and for good reason? That's either a miracle or the meanest trick I've ever heard of."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-21 04:56 am (UTC)"I looked," she corrects him, her smile turning just the tiniest bit grim even as she tilts her head to lean into another kiss, this one light and careful, not quite sure of how she wants to proceed from here. "I was just careful not to be caught."
Because it was about so much more than just the two of them.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-21 12:29 pm (UTC)He knew that. His head did. He'd known it all along, just as well as she did. That didn't mean he didn't want anyway. That had nothing to do with logic, with knowledge. It was another monster entirely, and at the moment it was wrecking havoc with his control. Which he had a surprising amount of, despite everyone's opinions of him.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-21 04:21 pm (UTC)It's been a long time since she's let anyone this close to her. She never thought she'd actually give Hawley the chance, even though there had always been something in her gut that had wanted to take his bait whenever it was offered.
"I didn't say it was smart," she counters, her fingers disentangling themselves so that her hand can lay comfortably against the back of his neck, thumb brushing against the warmth of his skin, fingers creeping just below the rise of his jacket's collar. It's not going to be safer for anyone, and yet being this close is already beginning to awaken the need for things she's gone so long without, the things she's always refused to let herself have, gone to great lengths to separate herself from.
"But if it means you don't disappear, maybe I can afford to be a little stupid."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-21 04:32 pm (UTC)"Does it mean that much to you? That I stay?"
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-21 07:55 pm (UTC)The kiss breaks and she pulls back just enough to nod firmly, meeting his eyes with a newly summoned surety, intent on letting him know she meant what she said, now as well as everything before it.
"It does," she says evenly, somber. "I like having you around."
Like with so many other sentiments, less was more with her, and the smile that pulls at the corner of her mouth says as much.
"And I think letting you drive out of here without giving you a fair chance would be a pretty big mistake."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-23 03:45 am (UTC)He pauses, and his grin melts into something more serious at that. "But Abbie, I still gotta find her. She's too dangerous to let loose out there. Especially after what we saw. If I get word she's turned up... I gotta go. You know that."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-23 04:13 am (UTC)Her own smile fades, even as she gives him a single nod, the hand at his waist flexing and falling away so that she can encircle it with her arm instead.
"I know. You can't just forget about her-- and you shouldn't." That much, they can agree on. "But when that time comes, you let us know. If we can find a way to help, we will. If you really have to go on your own--"
She grimaces, pressing her lips together, though it turns into a genuine smile a moment later, however reserved. Resigned, perhaps.
"Then make sure you're leaving to take care of business, not to run away."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-23 04:18 am (UTC)"So, Miss Mills. Since I suddenly have my calender cleared for the rest of the evening, what should we do now?"
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-23 05:26 am (UTC)Anything more than that, she wasn't sure she could say at the moment, but she hasn't forgotten how warm he is, hasn't forgotten what his lips tasted like or just how good it feels to be this close to another human being in this way, for the first time in ages.
"I'm not expected back anywhere," she begins carefully, raising both eyebrows ever-so-slightly. "And I think everyone else expects you to be halfway to the Canadian border by now."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-24 02:41 am (UTC)It's easy to keep that part of it light as he slings his duffel up and over one shoulder, bracing it easily. Then he holds his free hand out to her, still and patient, in invitation. Leaving it up to her if she wanted to come.
"Well. If you like. I've got a perfectly comfortable boat nearby. Can open a bottle, order some take-out, anything you like."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-24 01:34 pm (UTC)It was one thing to be hiding from the cops, another entirely to be hiding from your friends who happen to be incredibly determined and have the police department's resources available to them. Don't think you wouldn't have eventually been found if you had gone, Hawley-- although if that had been the case, Abbie imagines that catching up wouldn't have been quite as friendly as it was now.
She watches him retrieve his bag with interest, feeling tension ease out of her, like seeing it was enough to finally convince her that he was for real, that he was staying at least a little longer. She follows his gaze out towards the boat, thoughtful, then takes the offered hand after a moment's hesitation, her own grip warm and firm and far more solid than she would have expected, all things considered.
"You inviting me back to your place?" she asks, amused. "Wasn't sure the Chinese place delivered to boats."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-24 01:41 pm (UTC)He lets the disappearing comment go for now. It's not something he wants to discuss with her - not to let it ruin the mood of the moment, but he also has his ways. Ways learned from Camille all those years ago. There's a reason he stays off-grid. He's not so easy to track down, especially by the police. If people want to find him, they usually have to resort to... less civilized means. In which case, Jenny would have a hell lot more luck tracking him down than most of Abbie's resources could manage.
Not that he's going to enlighten her to that fact. Just in case.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-24 03:00 pm (UTC)"I reserve the right to change my mind."
But she smiles, and that says a lot. It says that she won't.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-24 10:03 pm (UTC)It's truth for him, at least. He'd never had trouble getting his way with his charm and his wit and his personality. It had always been enough, before. he'd never met anyone who'd made him work for things the way Abbie had. It had been an irresistible challenge to him. Still was, although he'd been suspecting for a long time it was deepening into something much more than that, a certainty he'd never wanted to stop and pick at along the way. he wasn't ready for some of those truths yet.
Her comment drags a laugh from him, quick and wry as he meets her gaze. "Don;t you always?" he asks as they reach his boat, his home, the closest thing he has to it.
He doesn't release her hand, merely hops over the space where dock ends and boat begins before dropping his duffel on the deck and turning to help her on board.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-26 04:04 am (UTC)"Nice," she remarks, though she knows she shouldn't be surprised. Hawley makes good money doing what he does, even if she wouldn't file most of his methods under what she considered to be clean business. "Suits you, I think. Not sure I can imagine a Hawley who lives on land."